The All-Of-the-Above Energy Strategy Threatens Alaskan Oil

In January, President Obama and then the Bureau of Ocean Energy management enacted a series of policies to set limitations on both onshore and offshore oil and gas production in Alaska.

The “all-of-the-above” energy policy is intended to support economic growth and job creation, to enhance energy security, and to deploy low-carbon energy technologies and lay the foundation for a clean energy future. However, the only thing the president’s all-of-the-above energy policy has done is hold back the industry’s growth.

– Marketed production of crude oil, natural gas, coal, and other fossil fuels on federal lands has fallen by 16 percent from 2009 to 2013.
– Production from federal land was 33 percent of the county\’s entire output in 2009, yet 25 percent in 2013.
– Production of natural gas and crude oil on federal lands fell by 19 percent from 2009 to 2013.
– The annual average number of applications approved for offshore oil and gas drilling is 63 percent lower than it was under President George W. Bush.
– Production in federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico, Alaska, and California has fallen by 18 percent since 2009.
– The average number of offshore federal leases activated has been 363 a year under Obama, down from 656 under Bush.

Actually, the shale oil and gas boom in the United States, which has taken place on private lands has used hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, reduced the oil prices, increased the crude production, and made the United States a leading producer of oil and natural gas. President Obama should allow Alaskans to develop their own resources.